‘Gorilla’ landscape makeover delights couple

By Cheryl Hatch, Gazette-Times | Posted: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 1:45 am

The landscaping crew from Shonnard's Nursery arrived early and worked until noon Tuesday. They trimmed hedges, raked leaves, spread bark chips and removed debris: three cubic yards, two truckloads.

It was a thousand-dollar job offered at no cost to the homeowners, Gary and Shirley Irwin of Corvallis.

"I don't know what you want to call it," said Shirley Irwin. "Elf work."

Irwin wrote a letter to Shonnard's Gorilla Landscape Division after she read about the nursery's charitable program in a Gazette-Times article.

In May, her husband, Gary, was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. He underwent radiation and chemotherapy throughout the summer.

"When he fell ill, we had other priorities," Shirley said. "The yard went by the wayside." In August, her husband had surgery and was cancer-free, but he had contracted a life-threatening infection in the hospital. Irwin took a leave of absence from her job as a K-5 special education teacher at Garfield Elementary to be with her husband.

"We actually didn't talk about the yard. We'd come home, and we felt bad when we pulled up."

As the six men worked on her yard, Irwin passed out hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls. The men hung Christmas lights and put them on a timer for display from 4 to 11 p.m. The nursery's florist delivered a poinsettia. "And they took my lawn mower to get fixed."

"They're very enthusiastic and warm-hearted - the true spirit of Christmas. They're our holiday heroes."

"We've always been involved in giving back to the community," said Chris Shonnard, who owns and operates the family business with his wife, Lynnette.

The Gorilla Landscape Division is a new program, inspired by the stealth "guerrilla" landscape makeovers on television.

"It's a play on words," Shonnard said. "It's not a commando thing. It's just this big, happy gorilla with a shovel." And he's played the concept to the hilt. He painted their Jeep Cherokee in camouflage colors with a stuffed gorilla riding shotgun. They have camouflage T-shirts with the gorilla logo, and ball caps are on the way.

"It needs to be a happy thing," Shonnard said.

He received 20 applications for the program, which will offer one makeover each month. He read all the letters and viewed the properties. The Irwins were the recipients of the first award.

"We feel like it's a teaching experience, a really good way to educate my staff," Shonnard said. "It's good to give and it's fun ... If this country is going to drag itself back up again, everyone has to give a little. Gary has always been a giver. Now he can't. It was not in his nature to get help. It was his to give help."

Irwin said her husband can't lift more than 10 pounds, and she's grateful for the work.

"It's a little symbolic," she said. "The inner landscape is clear, and now the outer landscape is clear. We can move on down the path. This is what the doctor ordered for me. This was our Christmas present, really."

For more information on the Gorilla Landscaping program, see www.shonnards.com.


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